Max McCoy named Distinguished Adviser by College Media Association

September 30, 2013

The adviser to the campus paper at Emporia State University has been named the 2013 Distinguished Adviser for four-year newspapers by the College Media Association.

Max McCoy, an associate professor of journalism and faculty adviser to The Bulletin, will receive the award at the organization’s fall convention, Oct.23-27, at New Orleans. He has advised the newspaper since 2007.

“I’m surprised and honored by this award, and encouraged that watchdog journalism still matters,” McCoy said. “My primary role as adviser is to be an advocate for the students, that’s been made all the easier because of the brilliant staffers I’ve worked with. They have shown an unflagging dedication in the pursuit of real journalism and the public’s right to know, and I’m accepting this award on behalf of them.”

The Distinguished Adviser Award is given annually to a CMA member with at least five years of advising experience and who has distinguished service in a particular area. The nomination process requires supporting letters from students.

Kenzie Templeton, a graduate student in English and former editor of The Bulletin nominated McCoy for the award after attending the 2012 CMA conference.

“Max always stands by the students but always makes it clear that it isn’t his paper, it is the students’ newspaper,” Templeton said. “This award is a great recognition for Max and for our paper because we were chosen from among all four-year universities in the country.”

Before coming to ESU in 2006, McCoy was an investigative writer for The Joplin Globe in southwest Missouri, where he won numerous awards from the Associated Press and other organizations for his reporting on unsolved murders, serial killers, and hate groups in the Ozarks.

A native Kansan, McCoy started his career in journalism in 1980 as a police reporter for The Pittsburg Morning Sun. Additionally, he is a freelance journalist and has written for publications as diverse as True Detective, American Photographer, and The Wilson Quarterly. He is also the author of more than 20 novels, including four original Indiana Jones adventures licensed by LucasFilm and published by Random House.

McCoy is also director of the Tallgrass Writing Workshop, held each June on the ESU campus.

This is the 54th year for the CMA Distinguished Adviser Award recognizing four-year college newspapers. Previous recipients represented Florida A&M University, Auburn University and the University of Wisconsin, among others.